The first photographs from Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, retrieved from the official movie brochure issued in Japan this week, have been released.
The fantastical and philosophical coming-of-age tale, released by Toho on July 14 as How Do You Live (Kimitachi wa D Ikiru ka), which according to producer Toshio Suzuki is Miyazaki’s final feature film and a legacy message, surpassed 6 billion yen (US $42.8 million) at the box office as of Monday.
On July 14, the film was released in IMAX theatres with its standard release in Japan. In its first four days, the picture grossed more than Miyazaki’s acclaimed Academy Award-winning 2001 film Spirited Away and 50% more than his 2013 blockbuster The Wind Rises. According to Deadline, the picture grossed more over $1.7 million from 44 IMAX screens, setting a new three-day opening record.
The Boy and the Heron is set during World War II. After losing his mother in the Tokyo firebombings, Mahito and his father go to the countryside. Mahito’s father marries his late mother’s sister there. As Mahito struggles with his position, he meets a talking heron and joins another realm on the promise of seeing his mother again.
The film will make its international premiere as the opening feature of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 7 at Roy Thomson Hall. This will be the first time the festival has begun with an animated picture, as well as the first time it has begun with a Japanese film.
